Hudu Akil Post New Single “El Mirage”

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The first Hudu Akil song in half a decade presents itself in three main movements across its readily-consumable six-plus minutes. The first is a hard-landing succession of hits that opens to the main riff, the drums pulled out with some genre-style ghost-shuffle on the snare — drummer Angel Calderon distinguishes himself throughout — before the layered drawling vocals from founding guitarist Zac Crye start the verse. All is rolling as the trio move through the chorus — the lyrics a warning, “It’s coming for us/Hell and high water/It’s coming for us” — and they cycle through again smoothly to end the first movement.

The second part launches immediately, right at 3:14. A stop shifts into quieter layers of guitar and bass noodling before a forward surge brings an extended instrumental course continuing through the next couple minutes. The first time I heard it I thought the song was over and something else had started to play, but as languid and stoned as Hudu Akil are in “El Mirage”‘s first half, the reality they unveil subsequent to that is sharp and precise while still consistent in sound with the first part.

The last movement is another quiet stretch of guitar, this one developing further with some jangly percussion alongside before it flips over and plays backwards in the fade, the lesson learned being that if you think you know what Hudu Akil‘s next album might sound like and you’re not actually in the band, you’re talking out of your ass. I don’t know where “El Mirage” will end up on that record to be, but it’s an enticing first look at something to keep an eye out for in the New Year.

Crye sent the following down the PR wire:

Hudu Akil El Mirage

Phoenix Stoner Metal Band Hudu Akil | New Single “El Mirage”

“El Mirage,” is the first release from the band since we dropped our full-length ‘Eye for an Eye’ with Glory or Death Records in 2018. The track precedes an entire new album of music which is currently in the mixing process.

We released the track exclusively to our bandcamp December 1st, and it goes live on all streaming services on the 11th.

“We just wanted to make an offering to everyone before the years’ end. Making music can be a bit of a process at times so we couldn’t wait to finally release something after wokring on these songs for the last two years. The track hits all streaming platforms on 12.11, and we will be dropping a cool video shortly after. Once we finally have the album in the can, we plan to make a lot more noise in the following months!” -Zac Crye, singer/guitarist

We’re not saying much about the album now, just want to share El Mirage with you guys.

El Mirage available here: https://huduakil.bandcamp.com/track/el-mirage

Written by Zac Crye
Recorded at Switchblade Sound in Tempe, AZ
Engineered by Joseph Asselin
Mix and Mastered by Tony Reed at Heavyhead Recordings

Hudu Akil is:
Zac Crye – Guitars, Vocals
Daniel Rangel – Bass
Angel Calderon – Drums

https://huduakil.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/huduakil
https://www.facebook.com/huduakil
https://www.huduakil.com

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https://gloryordeathrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://gloryordeathrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.gloryordeathrecords.com/shop/

Hudu Akil, “El Mirage” (2023)

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Quarterly Review: AAWKS & Aiwass, Surya Kris Peters, Evert Snyman, Book of Wyrms, Burning Sister, Gévaudan, Oxblood Forge, High Brian, Búho Ermitaño, Octonaut

Posted in Reviews on October 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk winter quarterly review

Last day, this one. And probably a good thing so that I can go back to doing just about anything else beyond (incredibly) basic motor function and feeling like I need to start the next day’s QR writeups. I’m already thinking of maybe a week in December and a week or two in January, just to try to keep up with stuff, but I’m of two minds about it.

Does the Quarterly Review actually help anyone find music? It helps me, I know, because it’s 50 records that I’m basically forcing myself to dig into, and that exposes me to more and more and more all the time, and gives me an outlet for stuff I wouldn’t otherwise have mental or temporal space to cover, so I know I get something out of it. Do you?

Honest answers are welcome in the comments. If it’s a no, that helps me as well.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

AAWKS & Aiwass, The Eastern Scrolls

AAWKS & Aiwass The Eastern Scrolls

Late on their 2022 self-titled debut (review here), Canadian upstart heavy fuzzers AAWKS took a decisive plunge into greater tonal densities, and “1831,” which is their side-consuming 14:30 contribution to the The Eastern Scrolls split LP with Arizona mostly-solo-project Aiwass, feels built directly off that impulse. It is, in other words, very heavy. Cosmically spaced with harsher vocals early that remind of stonerkings Sons of Otis and only more blowout from there as they roll forth into slog, noise, a stop, ambient guitar and string melodies and drum thud behind vocals, subdued psych atmosphere and backmasked sampling near the finish. Aiwass, led by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Blake Carrera and now on the cusp of releasing a second full-length, The Falling (review here), give the 13:00 “The Unholy Books” a stately, post-metallic presence, as much about the existential affirmations and the melody applied to the lyrics as it moves into the drumless midsection as either the earlier Grayceon-esque pulled notes of guitar (thinking specifically “War’s End” from 2011’s All We Destroy, but there the melody is cello) into it or the engrossing heft that emerges late in the piece, though it does bookend with a guitar comedown. Reportedly based around the life of theosophy co-founder and cult figure Madame Helena Blavatsky, it can either be embraced on that level or taken on simply as a showcase of two up and coming bands, each with their own complementary sound. However you want to go, it’s easily among the best splits I’ve heard in 2023.

AAWKS on Facebook

Aiwass on Facebook

Black Throne Productions store

Surya Kris Peters, Strange New World

Surya Kris Peters Strange New World

The lines between projects are blurring for Surya Kris Peters, otherwise known as Chris Peters, currently based in Brazil where he has the solo-project Fuzz Sagrado following on from his time in the now-defunct German trio Samsara Blues Experiment. Strange New World is part of a busy 2023/busy last few years for Peters, who in 2023 alone has issued a live album from his former band (review here) and a second self-recorded studio LP from Fuzz Sagrado, titled Luz e Sombra (review here). And in Fuzz Sagrado, Peters has returned to the guitar as a central instrument after a few years of putting his focus on keys and synths with Surya Kris Peters as the appointed outlet for it. Well, the Fuzz Sagrado had some keys and the 11-song/52-minute Strange New World wants nothing for guitar either as Peters reveals a headbanger youth in the let-loose guitar of “False Prophet,” offers soothing and textured vibes of a synthesized beat in “Sleep Meditation in Times of War” (Europe still pretty clearly in mind) and the acoustic/electric blend that’s expanded upon in “Nada Brahma Nada.” Active runs of synth, bouncing from note to note with an almost zither-esque feel in “A Beautiful Exile (Pt. 1)” and the later “A Beautiful Exile (Part 2)” set a theme that parts of other pieces follow, but in the drones of “Past Interference” and the ’80s New Wave prog of the bonus track “Slightly Too Late,” Peters reminds that the heart of the project is in exploration, and so it is still very much its own thing.

Fuzz Sagrado on Facebook

Electric Magic Records on Bandcamp

Evert Snyman, All Killer Filler

evert snyman all killer filler

A covers record can be a unique opportunity for an artist to convey something about themselves to fans, and while I consider Evert Snyman‘s 12-track/38-minute classic pop-rock excursion All Killer Filler to be worth it for his take on Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Zero” alone, there is no mistaking the show of persona in the choice to open with The Stooges‘ iconic “Search and Destroy” and back it cheekily with silly bounce of Paul McCartney‘s almost tragically catchy “Temporary Secretary.” That pairing alone is informative if you’re looking to learn something about the South African-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer. See also “The Piña Colada Song.” The ’90s feature mightily, as they would, with tunes by Pixies, Blur, Frank Black, The Breeders and Mark Lanegan (also the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins), but whether it’s the fuzz of The Breeders’ 1:45 “I Just Wanna Get Along,” the sincere acoustic take on The Beatles “I Will” — which might as well be a second McCartney solo cut, but whatever; you’ll note Frank Black and Pixies appearing separately as well — or the gospel edge brought to Tom Waits‘ “Jesus Gonna Be Here,” Snyman internalizes this material, almost builds it from the ground up, loyal in some ways and not in others, but resonant in its respect for the source material without trying to copy, say, Foo Fighters, note for note on “The Colour and the Shape.” If it’s filler en route to Snyman‘s next original collection, fine. Dude takes on Mark Lanegan without it sounding like a put on. Mark Lanegan himself could barely do that.

Evert Snyman on Facebook

Mongrel Records website

Book of Wyrms, Storm Warning

book of wyrms storm warning

Virginian heavy doom rockers Book of Wyrms have proved readily in the past that they don’t need all that long to set up a vibe, and the standalone single “Storm Warning” reinforces that position with four-plus minutes of solid delivery of craft. Vocalist/synthesist Sarah Moore Lindsey, bassist Jay “Jake” Lindsey and drummer Kyle Lewis and guitarist Bobby Hufnell (also Druglord) — the latter two would seem to have switched instruments since last year’s single “Sodapop Glacier” (premiered here) — but whatever is actually being played by whoever, the song is a structurally concise but atmospheric groover, with a riff twisting around the hook and the keyboard lending dimension to the mix as it rests beneath the guitar and bass. They released their third album, Occult New Age (review here), in 2021, so they’re by no means late on a follow-up, and I don’t know either when this song was recorded — before, after or during that process — but it’s a sharp-sounding track from a band whose style has grown only  more theirs with time. I have high expectations for Book of Wyrms‘ next record — I had high expectations for the last one, which were met — and especially taken together, “Storm Warning” and “Sodapop Glacier” show both the malleable nature of the band’s aesthetic, the range that has grown in their sound and the live performance that is at their collective core.

Book of Wyrms on Facebook

Desert Records store

Burning Sister, Get Your Head Right

burning sister get your head right

Following on from their declarative 2022 debut, Mile High Downer Rock (review here), Denver trio Burning Sister — bassist/vocalist Steve Miller (also synth), guitarist Nathan Rorabaugh and drummer Alison Salutz — bring four originals and the Mudhoney cover “When Tomorrow Comes” (premiered here) together as Get Your Head Right, a 29-minute EP, beginning with the hypnotic nod groove and biting leads of “Fadeout” (also released as a single) and the slower, heavy psych F-U-Z-Z of “Barbiturate Lizard,” the keyboard-inclusive languid roll of which, even after the pace picks up, tells me how right I was to dig that album. The centerpiece title-track is faster and a little more forward tonally, more grounded, but carries over the vocal echo and finds itself in noisier crashes and chugs before giving over to the 7:58 “Looking Through Me,” which continues the relatively terrestrial vibe over until the wall falls off the spaceship in the middle of the track and everyone gets sucked into the vacuum — don’t worry, the synthesizer mourns us after — just before the noted cover quietly takes hold to close out with spacious heavygaze cavern echo that swells all the way up to become a blowout in the vein of the original. It’s a story that’s been told before, of a band actively growing, coming into their sound, figuring out who they are from one initial release to the next. Burning Sister haven’t finished that process yet, but I like where this seems to be headed. Namely into psych-fuzz oblivion and cosmic dust. So yeah, right on.

Burning Sister on Facebook

Burning Sister on Bandcamp

Gévaudan, Umbra

Gévaudan UMBRA

Informed by Pallbearer, Warning, or perhaps others in the sphere of emotive doom, UK troupe Gévaudan scale up from 2019’s Iter (review here) with the single-song, 43:11 Umbra, their second album. Impressive enough for its sheer ambition, the execution on the extended titular piece is both complex and organic, parts flowing naturally from one to the other around lumbering rhythms for the first 13 minutes or so before a crashout to a quick fade brings the next movement of quiet and droning psychedelia. They dwell for a time in a subtle-then-not-subtle build before exploding back to full-bore tone at 18:50 and carrying through a succession of epic, dramatic ebbs and flows, such that when the keyboard surges to the forefront of the mix in seeming battle with the pulled notes of guitar, the ensuing roll/march is a realization. They do break to quiet again, this time piano and voice, and doom mournfully into a fade that, at the end of a 43-minute song tells you the band could’ve probably kept going had they so desired. So much the better. Between this and Iter, Gévaudan have made a for-real-life statement about who they are as a band and their progressive ambitions. Do not make the mistake of thinking they’re done evolving.

Gévaudan on Facebook

Meuse Music Records website

Oxblood Forge, Cult of Oblivion

Oxblood Forge Cult of Oblivion

In some of the harsher vocals and thrashy riffing of Cult of Oblivion‘s opening title-track, Massachusetts’ Oxblood Forge remind a bit of some of the earliest Shadows Fall‘s definitively New Englander take on hardcore-informed metal. The Boston-based double-guitar five-piece speed up the telltale chug of “Children of the Grave” on “Upon the Altar” and find raw sludge scathe on “Cleanse With Fire” ahead of finishing off the four-song/18-minute EP with the rush into “Mask of Satan,” which echoes the thrash of “Cult of Oblivion” itself and finds vocalist Ken McKay pushing his voice higher in clean register than one can recall on prior releases, their most recent LP being 2021’s Decimator (review here). But that record was produced for a different kind of impact than Cult of Oblivion, and the aggression driving the new material is enhanced by the roughness of its presentation. These guys have been at it a while now, and clearly they’re not in it for trends, or to be some huge band touring for seven months at a clip. But their love of heavy metal is evident in everything they do, and it comes through here in every blow to the head they mete out.

Oxblood Forge on Facebook

Oxblood Forge on Bandcamp

High Brian, Five, Six, Seven

High Brian Five Six Seven

The titular rhythmic counting in Austrian heavy-prog quirk rockers High Brian‘s Five, Six, Seven (on StoneFree Records, of course) doesn’t take long to arrive, finding its way into second cut “Is it True” after the mild careening of “All There Is” opens their third full-length, and that’s maybe eight minutes into the 40-minute record, but it doesn’t get less gleefully weird from there as the band take off into the bassy meditation of “The End” before tossing out angular headspinner riffs in succession and rolling through what feels like a history of krautrock’s willful anti-normality written into the apocalypse it would seemingly have to be. “The End” is the longest track at 8:50, and it presumably closes side A, which means side B is when it’s time to party as the triplet chug of “The Omni” reinforces the energetic start of “All There Is” with madcap fervor and “Stone Came Up” can’t decide whether it’s raw-toned biker rock or spaced out lysergic idolatry, so it decides to become an open jam complete people talking “in the crowd.” This leaves the penultimate “Our First Car” to deliver one last shove into the art-rock volatility of closer “Oil Into the Fire,” where High Brian play one more round of can-you-follow-where-this-is-going before ending with a gentle cymbal wash like nothing ever happened. Note, to the best of my knowledge, there are not bongos on every track, as the cover art heralds. But perhaps spiritually. Spiritual bongos.

High Brian on Facebook

StoneFree Records website

Búho Ermitaño, Implosiones

Búho Ermitaño Implosiones

Shimmering, gorgeous and richly informed in melody and rhythm by South American folk, Búho Ermitaño‘s Implosiones revels in pastoralia in opener “Herbie” before “Expolosiones” takes off past its midpoint into heavy post-rock float and progressive urgency that in itself is more dynamic than many bands even still is only a small fraction of the encompassing range of sounds at work throughout these seven songs. ’60s psych twists into the guitar solo in the back half of “Explosiones” before space rock key/synth wash finishes — yes, it’s like that — and only then does the serene guitar and, birdsong and synth-drone of “Preludio” announce the arrival of centerpiece “Ingravita,” which begins acoustic and even as it climbs all the way up to its crescendo maintains its peaceful undercurrent so that when it returns at the end it seems to be home again at the finish. The subsequent “Buarabino” is more about physical movement in its rhythm, cumbia roots perhaps showing through, but leaves the ground for its second half of multidirectional resonances offered like ’70s prog that tells you it’s from another planet. But no, cosmic as they get in the keys of “Entre los Cerros,” Búho Ermitaño are of and for the Earth — you can hear it in every groove and sun-on-water guitar melody — and when the bowl chimes to start finale “Renacer,” the procession that ensues en route to the final drone is an affirmation both of the course they’ve taken in sound and whatever it is in your life that’s led you to hear it. Records like this never get hype. They should. They are loved nonetheless.

Búho Ermitaño on Facebook

Buh Records on Bandcamp

Octonaut, Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod

Octonaut Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod

In concept or manifestation, one would not call Octonaut‘s 54-minute shenanigans-prone debut album Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod a minor undertaking. On any level one might want to approach it — taking on the two-minute feedbackscape of “…—…” (up on your morse code?) or the 11-minute tale-teller-complete-with-digression-about-black-holes “Octonaut” or any of their fun-with-fuzz-and-prog-metal-and-psychedelia points in between — it is a lot, and there is a lot going on, but it’s also wonderfully brazen. It’s completely over the top and knows it. It doesn’t want to behave. It doesn’t want to just be another stoner band. It’s throwing everything out in the open and seeing what works, and as Octonaut move forward, ideally, they’ll take the lessons of a song like the mellow linear builder “Hypnotic Jungle” or nine-minute capper “Rainbow Muffler Camel” (like they’re throwing darts at words) with its intermittent manic fits and the somehow inevitable finish of blown-out static noise. As much stoner as it is prog, it’s also not really either, but this is good news because there are few better places for an act so clearly bent on individualism as Octonaut are to begin than in between genres. One hopes they dwell there for the duration.

Octonaut on Facebook

Octonaut’s Linktr.ee

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AAWKS and Aiwass Team for The Eastern Scrolls Out Aug. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

There’s nothing streaming from this yet, and I haven’t had two seconds to dig in, but I’m posting this release announcement because I have the distinct suspicion that a split pairing Ontario’s AAWKS and Phoenix, Arizona’s Aiwass could be a really cool listen for more than just the bands’ shared affinities for vowels and riffs. Both are newer/new-ish units built around a solid foundation of heavy songwriting, and that they’re working around a common theme across the release — you can read about it below, you’ll pardon if I skip the summary and just say that I hope a century from now there are stoner rock bands writing material based on the life and times of twice-now US presidential candidate Marianne Williamson — should be taken as a further clue that the release, titled The Eastern Scrolls, is more than a hodgepodge of studio leftovers.

Black Throne Productions will have the split out on Aug. 25. I’ll hope to have more coverage on it before then. Here’s what the PR has for details at present:

Aawks-aiwass-the-Eastern-scrolls

Psychedelic Outfits AAWKS And AIWASS Join Forces On New Split

Fuzz and buzz take over as psychedelic outfits AAWKS and AIWASS join forces on new split, The Eastern Scrolls, due out August 25th via Black Throne Productions. A concept album that explores the life and legend of Russian mystic Madame Helena Blavatsky. A woman who enjoyed a diverse career as a circus horse rider, a professional pianist, a business woman, and a spiritualist, Madame Helena Blavatsky is best known as one of the founders of Theosophy, a spiritual movement based in the ancient tradition of occultism, and the esoteric doctrines of Hermeticism and Neoplatonism. The Eastern Scrolls is available for pre-order HERE: https://blackthroneproductions.com/en-us/collections/all

“AAWKS is honored to be able to present The Eastern Scrolls to you with the our good friends in AIWASS,” AAWKS elaborates. “There have been many mysterious and odd synchronistic and coincidental events related to Madame Helena Blavatsky and AAWKS and we believe that there may even be a possibility that she’s channeling her otherworldly self into the sounds of this release.”

“We hope that you enjoy what we’ve collectively put forth and, if you’re so inclined, to do some reading about this mysterious, interesting and controversial woman and all of the truly spectacular things she did or may have done.”

“This project has been an experience I didn’t see hitting me the way it has.” further adds AAWKS’ Randy Babic. “Delving into her life and works, hearing naysayers and followers gave me energy and enthusiasm.”

“Thinking about what she did in her time and what she introduced to the world was an overwhelming feeling of wonder and pride for women. She resisted the norm, fought for her beliefs and mystically took on everything in front of her. Near death experiences, haters and husbands couldn’t tie her down from her true calling. Blessed to have had the challenge to create something in honor of her life.”

“Madame Blavatsky was in search of a universal religion – we’re in search of a universal sound that reflects her beliefs,” concludes AIWASS. “These songs were inspired not just by what Blavatsky said, but what she might well have done. I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of this and go through the journey of listenership with my compatriots in AAWKS and our listeners.”

https://aawks.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/AAWKSBAND
https://www.instagram.com/aawksband/
https://twitter.com/aawks666

https://www.facebook.com/aiwassbandaz
https://www.instagram.com/aiwassband/
https://aiwassband.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Black-Throne-Productions-101840285724006
https://blackthroneproductions.com/
https://linktr.ee/BlackThroneProductions

AAWKS, Heavy on the Cosmic (2022)

Aiwass, Wayward Gods (2021)

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Friday Full-Length: Goya, 777

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Issued by the band in the final days of 2013, Goya‘s debut album, 777, is a beast of stoner doom riffing and unbridled weedian disillusion. From the marching chug of “Rites of Hashage” at the outset through the faster-till-it-isn’t “Necromance” and into the shovel-to-dirt riffing of the extended pair “Night Creeps” (11:59) and “Death’s Approaching Lullaby” (12:54), across the righteous bombast and cutting-through wah solo of “Blackfire” and landing on the lyrical summation amid the disaffected slog of “Bad Vibes,” the second verse of which, “I see this world, it’s not gonna change/At least not for the better anyway/So fuck you, fuck you, fuck you and you and you and you/I know you’re gonna die” really putting a pin in the general perspective as delivered by guitarist Jeffrey Owens in a post-Electric Wizard moan that would be a defining element of the band’s sonic persona, Shane Taylor‘s drums crashing and bassist Jirix-Mie Paz (who also recorded; Brad Boatright at Audiosiege mixed and mastered in Oregon) rumbling low at the foundation of the tracks, lurch or shove take your pick it’s all filthy. Hunter Hancock‘s get-stoned-and-stare cover art like a bestiary of stoner rock iconography, lyrical references and so on. I think I saw some broccoli in there. Can we make broccoli a stoner rock thing 10 years later?

Topping out at 52 dead, rotting, and yet very much alive minutes, 777 tells you it’s going over the top right from the outset in its titular of-the-beast equivalent to Spinal Tap‘s legendary “this one goes to 11.” Goya‘s riffs one-up (or 111 up) the number of the beast, and since it’s all made up anyhow there’s really no way to argue. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, the three-piece had offered a demo (review here) in 2012 that featured “Blackfire” and “Night Creeps,” and to-date they’ve put out two subsequent full-lengths in 2015’s Obelisk (review here) and 2017’s Harvester of Bongloads (review here), as well as sundry shorter offerings in EPs, splits, singles, the 2021 acoustic EP The Universe Wails being the most recent — “Blackfire” and “Bad Vibes” appear on it, obviously in reworked fashion.

I don’t mind telling you that when 777 came out, I absolutely missed it. Between being released in mid-December and having been a quicker-than-expected turnaround from the demo, I just whiffed. I’d covered the band already and I’d do so later in 2014 with their split with Wounded Giant (review here), but I always felt like I was playing catchup with Goya and having missed out on 777 at the time of its release is why. 2013 brought highlight records from ClutchMonster MagnetVista ChinoAll Them Witches and a slew of others, and I guess I was too busy putting together my top 20 (which even back then went to 30) to catch the smell of smoke on the wind blowing from the Goya 777Southwest at the time. This ain’t Pokemon. You’re not gonna catch ’em all.

What I failed to appreciate about 777 in the moment — and to be fair to myself, this would’ve been a tough one to call — is how throughout 777 and even in the album’s basic construction and style, the grit of its production, the combination of mindfulness of sound and purposeful largesse with a brazen fuckall attitude and the counterintuitive fluidity between them, Goya were speaking to genre from within genre in a new way and with a new generational voice. Consider Monolord‘s Empress Rising wouldn’t arrive until April 2014, and that’s widely regarded as a landmark (not arguing with that, by the way), but in addition to being more miserable, Goya were ahead of that curve even before the curve existed. Did they sound like Electric Wizard? Oh yes. But the production on Dopethrone sounds like shit and Goya took those lessons and at least here were starting to internalize the influence and craft something of their own from it.

Even in the way “Rites of Hashage” unabashedly engages lyrically with stonerly tropes with the chorus, “The highest council has filled this bong/With water from the River Styx/We’ve packed this bowl with weed from distant galaxies/Come forth my child it’s your hit,” 777 represented a fresh mindset, and it’s the difference between Generation X’s ‘we don’t even get high’ protestation against being stoner rock (not universal, but not uncommon among that late ’90s/early ’00s set of bands) and the elder-Millennial, reinforced-by-social-media embrace of THC-infused everything. Coupled with the wretched sprawls of “Night Creeps” and “Death’s Approaching Lullaby,” the self-awareness of the nod and the will to crush as an essential element of the work — “Forever dead, forever stoned,” as “Night Creeps” lumbers toward its and the album’s middle — the frame of reference on display throughout Goya‘s debut would become a hallmark of the style throughout the next decade. They didn’t invent weed puns or stories about getting high in space, but they wore them on their collective sleeve in a way that continues to impact what stoner doom is today.

They broke up at some point after Harvester of Bongloads, which will happen. I’d go back through their Instagram to find the exact date but I have this thing where I take it personally every time someone is flipping off a camera and I’m not sure I could handle the emotional stress. A few weeks back, however, a trio of middle fingers appeared out of the algorithmic ether with the caption, “Still here. Still writing. Still sick of your shit.” Because I’m wont to do so, I specifically asked if that meant they weren’t still defunct, and the answer I got from Owens could hardly be more direct: “For better or worse, Goya will die when I do. -Jeffrey”

They’ve got a show lined up for June, and I have no idea what their writing is leading toward, whether it’s a fourth long-player, or an EP or a single or maybe just riffs just because, but at least they’re active, and in marking a decade since the release of 777 later this year, Goya can look back even as they move ahead toward whatever that next thing might be. Six years after their last record, you’d say they’re due, but baking takes time and Goya have always been well baked. Nonetheless, one hopes for news sooner or later. Wouldn’t want to miss it.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

The Patient Mrs.’ grandmother died this week, which has been a lot to take. We knew it was coming. She was 97 and had started a pretty stark this-is-for-real decline in November. So it’s been months, and The Patient Mrs.’ mother, who is incredible, has been primary-caregiving all the while through that emotional and physical slog with a strength that one can only call preternatural and emblematic of the conviction (and, since it’s Connecticut, the compartmentalizing) toward which she was raised.

Helen went peacefully, not in pain, with family around her, and most importantly, she was ready. That’s more than most of us will get, whether we deserve it or not. When I was a kid and started going to The Patient Mrs.’ family functions, learning their processes for Thanksgiving and Xmas around the time I was 17 or 18, Helen was kind to me in ways she most definitely did not ever have to be, and as a matriarch, she welcomed me into that family in ways that I barely understood let alone appreciated at the time. She always had a formal streak — again, Connecticut — but had a laugh that always seemed to hint at delight in mischief. Prepared as I was for her passing, I’ll miss hearing that.

We told The Pecan on Wednesday after school. I just wanted to get through the school day, get some food in the kid, and so on. The Patient Mrs. had shot up to Connecticut — we’re headed up there this evening as well, will stay over and through probably much of the day tomorrow — to be with her mother and sister, and when she got home we delivered the news together. We’ve been talking about it for months, but The Pecan has been pretty fragile since and is clearly doing some processing. It’s the first loss where kiddo is conscious enough to really understand what it means, so we tried to ease into it to the extent possible. Once more, we knew it was coming.

Grief is like fingerprints; everyone has their own. I remind myself of a long life well lived and someone I was fortunate enough to know and love. She came to The Pecan’s birthday party last October. It was her last real outing. And she took me aside then and said, “I have to talk to you before I leave.” I thought it was some important life advice or maybe she just wanted to call me a terrible parent or who knows what, but it turns out what she wanted to know was what size flannel shirt I wanted from L.L. Bean for Xmas so The Patient Mrs.’ mother could order it on her behalf. I got that flannel, wore it all winter. That that was the super-important, kind-of-grave-seeming thing she wanted to discuss is pretty representative. I was glad that when I went up to see her in January/February, she knew who I was and we got to chat for a minute or two before she nodded off.

That’s the weekend plan, really. To coincide, next week is the Quarterly Review — because of course my timing would be thus — with a full 50 releases to follow up the 70 a few weeks back. Still calling it ‘Spring 2023,’ I finally decided. I know I’m the only one who cares about what that kind of thing is called, but somehow it makes a difference to me. I get hung up on shit like that constantly.

Also had a foll0w-up with my neurologist this week. She put me back on Wellbutrin, which I don’t like but I’m giving a shot because, well, my father never did and if I can do incrementally better than that then at least I’ve done more than him to try to be well in my head, and back on whatever ADD dexomethylsomeshit I was on before, both titrating up to an increased dose. I go swimming. I take vitamins. I do what I’m told. I try not to be a dick when I can help it.

The Patient Mrs. and I are going to record a podcast together. I might put her in charge of distribution, so if anyone has hints in that regard, I’d love to hear them so I can pass them along. I think we’re going to record in two weeks, so I’ll post after that. Need to make a playlist and somehow put it together myself. Open-source audio software here I come. I’m lousy with that stuff, but will try to pick some good tracks anyway, and if nothing else, it’ll be fun to chat with her about music and whatever else. She’s not into the sounds really at all and I find that perspective fascinating.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Watch your head, tell someone you love them, drink water. All that stuff. Back here Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the Quarterly Review and I’ve got a full stream slated for The Machine’s new record besides. Will be a good time.

Thanks for reading.

FRM.

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Quarterly Review: Fu Manchu, Valborg, Sons of Arrakis, Voidward, Indus Valley Kings, Randy Holden, The Gray Goo, Acid Rooster, BongBongBeerWizards, Mosara

Posted in Reviews on September 20th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Day two of the Fall 2022 Quarterly Review brings a fresh batch of 10 releases en route to the total 100 by next Friday. Some of this is brand new, some of it is older, some of it is doom, some is rock, some is BongBongBeerWizards, and so on. Sometimes these things get weird, and I guess that’s where it’s at for me these days, but you’re going to find plenty of ground to latch onto despite that. Wherever you end up, I hope you’re digging this so far half as much as I am. Much love as always as we dive back in.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Fu Manchu, Fu30 Pt. 2

Fu Manchu Fu 30 part 2

Like everyone’s everything in the era, Fu Manchu‘s 30th anniversary celebration didn’t go as planned, but with their Fu30 Pt. 2 three-songer, they give 2020’s Fu30 Pt. 1 EP (posted here) the sequel its title implied and present two originals and one cover in keeping with that prior release’s format. Tracked in 2021, “Strange Plan” and the start-stop-riffed “Low Road” are quintessential works of Fu fuzz, so SoCal they’re practically in Baja, and bolstered by the kinds of grooves that have held the band in good stead with listeners throughout these three-plus decades. “Strange Plan” is more aggressive in its shove, but perhaps not so confrontational as the cover of Surf Punks‘ 1980 B-side “My Wave,” a quaint bit of surferly gatekeeping with the lines, “Go back to the Valley/And don’t come back,” in its chorus. As they will with their covers, the four-piece from San Clemente bring the song into their own sound rather than chase down trying to sound like Reagan-era punk, and that too is a method well proven on the part of the band. If you ever believed heavy rock and roll could be classic, Fu Manchu are that, and for experienced heads who’ve heard them through the years as they’ve tried different production styles, Fu30 Pt. 2 finds an effective middle ground between impact and mellow groove.

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At the Dojo Records website

 

Valborg, Der Alte

Valborg Der Alte

Not so much a pendulum as a giant slaughterhouse blade swinging from one side to the other like some kind of horrific grandfather clock, Valborg pull out all the industrial/keyboard elements from their sound and strip down their songwriting about as far as it will go on Der Alte, the 13-track follow-up to 2019’s Zentrum (review here) and their eighth album overall since 2009. Accordingly, the bone-cruncher pummel in cuts like “Kommando aus der Zukunft” and the shout-punky centerpiece “Hektor” is furious and raw. I’m not going to say I hope they never bring back the other aspects of their sound, but it’s hard not to appreciate the directness of the approach on Der Alte, on which only the title-track crosses the four-minute mark in runtime (it has a 30 second intro; such self-indulgence!), and their sound is still resoundingly their own in tone and the throaty harsh vocals on “Saturn Eros Xenomorph” and “Hoehle Hoelle” and the rest across the album’s intense, largely-furious-but-still-not-lacking-atmosphere span. If it was another band, you might call it death metal. As it stands, Der Alte is just Valborg, distilled to their purest and meanest form.

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Sons of Arrakis, Volume I

Sons of Arrakis Volume I

2022 is probably a good year to put out a record based around Frank Herbert’s Dune universe (the Duniverse?), what with the gargantuan feature film last year and another one coming at some point as blah blah franchise everything, but Montreal four-piece Sons of Arrakis have had at least some of the songs on Volume I in the works for the better part of four years, guitarists Frédéric Couture (also vocals) and Francis Duchesne (also keys) handling recording for the eight-song/30-minute outing with Vick Trigger on bass and Eliot Landry on drums locking in tight grooves pushing all that sci-fi and fuzz along at a pace that one only wishes the movie had shared. I’ve never read Dune, which is only relevant information here because Volume I doesn’t leave me feeling out of the loop as “Temple of the Desert” locks in quintessential stoner rock janga-janga shuffle and “Lonesome Preacher” culminates in twisty fuzz that should well please fans of Valley of the Sun before bleeding directly and smoothly into the melodic highlight “Abomination” in a way that, to me at least, bodes better for their longer term potential than whatever happenstance novelty of subject matter surrounds. There’s plenty of Dune out there if they want to stick to the theme, but songwriting like this could be about brushing your teeth and it’d still work.

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Voidward, Voidward

voidward voidward

Voidward‘s self-titled full-length debut lands some nine years after the Durham, North Carolina, trio’s 2013 Knives EP, and accordingly features nearly a decade’s worth of difference in sound, casting off longer-form post-black metal duggery in favor of more riff-based explorations. Still at least partially metallic in its roots, as opener “Apologize” makes plain and the immediate nodder roll of “Wolves” backs up, the eight-song/47-minute outing is distinguished by the clean, floating vocal approach of guitarist Greg Sheriff, who almost reminds of Dave Heumann from Arbouretum, though no doubt other listeners will hear other influences, and yes that’s a compliment. Joined by bassist/backing vocalist Alec Ferrell — harmonies persist on “Wolves” and elsewhere — and drummer Noah Kessler, Sheriff brings just a hint of char to the tone of “Oblivion,” but the blend of classic heavy rock and metal throughout points Voidward to someplace semi-psychedelic but nonetheless richly ambient, and even the most straightforward inclusion, arguably “Chemicals” though closer “Cobalt” has plenty of punch as well, is rich in its execution. They even thrash a bit on “Horses,” so as long as it’s not another nine years before they do anything else, they sound like they can go wherever they want. Rare for a debut.

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Indus Valley Kings, Origin

Indus Valley Kings Origin

The second long-player from Long Island, New York’s Indus Valley Kings, Origin brings together nine songs across an expansive 55 minutes, and sees the trio working from a relatively straightforward heavy rock foundation toward more complex purposes, whether that’s the spacious guitar stretch-out of “A Cold Wind” or the tell-tale chug in the second half of centerpiece “Dark Side of the Sun.” They effectively shift back and forth between lengthier guitar-led jams and more straight-up verses and choruses, but structure is never left too far behind to pick up again as need be, and the confidence behind their play comes through amid a relatively barebones production style, the rush of the penultimate “Drowned” providing a later surge in answer to the more breadth-minded unfurling of “Demon Beast” and the bluesy “Mohenjo Daro.” So maybe they’re not actually from the Indus Valley. Fine. I’ll take the Ripple-esque have-riffs-have-shred-ready-to-roll “Hell to Pay” wherever it’s coming from, and the swing of the earlier “…And the Dead Shall Rise” doesn’t so much dogwhistle its penchant for classic heavy as serve it to the listener on a platter. If we’re picking favorites, I might take “A Cold Wind,” but there’s plenty to dig on one way or the other, and Origin issues invitations early and often for listeners to get on board.

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Randy Holden, Population III

randy holden population iii

Clearly whoever said there were no second chances in rock and roll just hadn’t lived long enough. After reissuing one-upon-a-time Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden‘s largely-lost classic Population II (discussed here) for its 50th anniversary in 2020, RidingEasy Records offers Holden‘s sequel in Population III. And is it the work for which Holden will be remembered? No. But it is six songs and 57 minutes of Holden‘s craft, guitar playing, vocals and groove, and, well, that feels like something worth treasuring. Holden was in his 60s when he and Randy Pratt (also of Cactus) began to put together Population III, and for the 21-minute “Land of the Sun” alone, the album’s release a decade later is more than welcome both from an archival standpoint and in the actual listening experience, and as “Swamp Stomp” reminds how much of the ‘Comedown Era’s birth of heavy rock was born of blues influence, “Money’s Talkin'” tears into its solo with a genuine sense of catharsis. Holden may never get his due among the various ‘guitar gods’ of lore, but if Population III exposes more ears to his work and legacy, so much the better.

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The Gray Goo, 1943

The Gray Goo 1943

Gleefully oddball Montana three-piece The Gray Goo remind my East Coast ears a bit of one-time Brooklynites Eggnogg for their ability to bring together funk and heavy/sometimes-psychedelic rock, but that’s not by any means the extent of what they offer with their debut album, 1943, which given the level of shenanigans in 10-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Bicycle Day” alone, I’m going to guess is named after the NES game. In any case, from “Bicycle Day” on down through the closing “Cop Punk,” the pandemic-born outfit find escape in right-right-right-on nods and bass tone, partially stonerized but casting off expectation with an aplomb that manifests in the maybe-throwing-an-elbow noise of “Problem Child,” and the somehow-sleek rehearsal-space funk of “Launch” and “The Comedown,” which arrives ahead of “Shakes and Spins” — a love song, of sorts, with fluid tempo changes and a Primus influence buried in there somewhere — and pulls itself out of the ultra-’90s jam just in time for a last plodding hook. Wrapping with the 1:31 noise interlude “Goo” and the aforementioned “Cop Punk,” which gets the prize lyrically even with the competition surrounding, 1943 is going right on my list of 2022’s best debut albums with a hope for more mischief to come.

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Acid Rooster, Ad Astra

acid rooster ad astra

Oh, sweet serenity. Maybe if we all had been in that German garden on the day in summer 2020 when Acid Rooster reportedly performed the two extended jams that comprise Ad Astra — “Zu den Sternen” (22:28) and “Phasenschieber” (23:12) — at least some of us might’ve gotten the message and the assurance so desperately needed at the time that things were going to be okay. And that would’ve been nice even if not necessarily the truth. But as it stands, Ad Astra documents that secret outdoor showcase on the part of the band, unfolding with improvised grace across its longform pieces, hopeful in spirit and plenty loud by the time they get there but never fully departing from a hopeful sensibility, some vague notion of a better day to come. Even in the wholesale drone immersion of “Phasenschieber,” with the drums of “Zu den Sternen” seemingly disappeared into that lush ether, I want to close my eyes and be in that place and time, to have lived this moment. Impossible, right? Couldn’t have happened. And yet some were there, or so I’m told. The rest of us have the LP, and that’s not nothing considering how evocative this music is, but the sheer aural therapy of that moment must have been a powerful experience indeed. Hard not to feel lucky even getting a glimpse.

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BongBongBeerWizards, Ampire

BongBongBeerWizards Ampire

A sophomore full-length from the Dortmund trio of guitarist/synthesist Bong Travolta, bassist/vocalist Reib Asnah and (introducing) drummer/vocalist Chill Collins — collectively operating as BongBongBeerWizardsAmpire is a call to worship for Weed and Loud alike, made up of three tracks arranged longest to shortest (immediate points) and lit by sacred rumble of spacious stoner doom. Plod as god. Tonal tectonics. This is not about innovation, but celebrating noise and lumber for the catharsis they can be when so summoned. Willfully repetitive, primitive and uncooperative, there’s some debt of mindset to the likes of Poland’s Belzebong or the largesse of half-speed Slomatics/Conan/Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, but again, if you come into the 23-minute leadoff “Choirs and Masses” expecting genre-shaping originality, you’ve already fucked up. Get crushed instead. Put it on loud and be consumed. It won’t work for everybody, but it’s not supposed to. But if you’re the sort of head crusty enough to appreciate the synth-laced hypnotic finish of “Unison” or the destructive mastery of “Slumber,” you’re gonna shit a brick when the riffs come around. They’re not the only church in town, but it’s just the right kind of fun for melting your brains with volume.

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Mosara, Only the Dead Know Our Secrets

Mosara Only the Dead Know Our Secrets

Any way you want to cut it with Mosara‘s second album, Only the Dead Know Our Secrets, the root word you’re looking for is “heavy.” You’d say, “Oh, well ‘Magissa’ has elements of early-to-mid-aughts sludge and doom at work with a raw presentation in its cymbal splash and shouted vocals.” Or you’d say, “‘The Permanence of Isolation’ arrives at a chugging resolution after a deceptively intricate intro,” or “the acoustic beginning of ‘Zion’s Eyes’ leads to a massive, engaging nod that shows thoughtfulness of construction in its later intertwining of lead guitar lines.” Or that the closing title-track flips the structure to end quiet after an especially tortured stretch of nonetheless-ambient sludge. All that’s true, but you know what it rounds out to when you take away the blah blah blah? It’s fucking heavy. Whatever angle you’re approaching from — mood, tone, songwriting, performance — it’s fucking heavy. Sometimes there’s just no other way, no better way, to say it. Mosara‘s 2021 self-titled debut (review here) was too. It’s just how it is. I bet their next one will be as well, or at very least I hope so. If you’re old enough to recall Twingiant, there’s members of that band here, but even if not, what you need to know is that Only the Dead Know Our Secrets is fucking heavy. So there.

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tony Gallegos of Mosara

Posted in Questionnaire on September 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

mosara

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tony Gallegos of Mosara

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I guess the obvious answer is doom/sludge metal. But I like to call it prog doom. It’s taking all the things that we collectively as a band are influenced by and turning it into this musical blend of different sounds and ideas. Each of us comes from different musical backgrounds, yet we manage to come across as what is normally identified as doom/sludge metal.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first musical memory was listening to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” thanks to my dad. He used to say, “here come the elephants!” As I got older I realized what the song meant to him. He’s a Vietnam vet and that song encapsulates everything that Vietnam was to him. He would tell me and my brothers his stories. In addition to that, coming from a Mexican household, Sundays were cleaning days. That meant mom playing the radio. Her and my dad listened to everything, so what I grew up to was Motown, R&B, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Smokey Robinson, oldies, and of course, salsas, cumbias, and rancheros. It definitely opened many doors for me as a kid.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Witnessing YOB for the first time. You don’t JUST go see a YOB show. You experience it! Each time I’ve seen them, I get the same feeling as the first time I had ever seen them. I literally tear up and I get these fantastical goosebumps. Watching Mike up on stage is much like watching a conductor conduct a symphony. I highly, highly recommend everyone going to see YOB. It changed my perspective on how a band should play, feel, and compose music. Literally the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Playing bass in a stoner/doom band back in 2005 changed a lot of how I saw what being in a band was about. That band was Sons of Serro. I had a lot of preconceived notions and beliefs of how to be in a band. They flipped everything around that I had believed. How to write, how to collaborate, listening, standing up for what you believed in, letting things go, looking at different bandmates’ perspectives. I call my time in that band my internship in the world of music. I learned a lot from those fellas and I cherish that time I spent with them. They were my mentors.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It leads to boundaries being taken down. It opens up opportunities for growth, and more importantly, it brings more perspective to whatever it is your trying to accomplish. I see so many bands/artists/creators stuck in this constant loop. They fall into this ideology that whatever works, don’t change. Most of the time I feel they become stagnant and complacent. Why would you not want to progress? It’s like learning chords on a guitar. If you’re stuck playing the same three chords over and over, you’re essentially playing the same song. Learn different voicings, shapes, different fingerings. It’ll open up your creative expression and give you more ideas to work with. And since I was a punk rock kid, that’s saying a lot! HAHA!

How do you define success?

Success is what you make of it. To me, my band is successful. We get to play the music that I like to play with the people that I enjoy playing it with. We release albums, play shows and don’t take ourselves too seriously. At least not ALL the time. To some, “success” means tours, making money, traveling the world, etc. etc… Those things don’t really matter to us. Would it be nice? Absolutely! To make a living doing what you love to do is a certain level of success. But with that success comes an enormous amount of responsibility. I feel that at some point it becomes a job. Not at all dissing anyone that ever achieves that level of success, but to us, that’s not what makes us successful, per se. It’s doing what you want to do and enjoying what you do. Like I said, I’m surrounded by a great group of people and that is success to me.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’m a healthcare worker, so the last few years were pretty awful on all spectrums. It was an extremely bad time for everyone, everywhere. I’d seen more death in the first few months of the pandemic than my entire career in healthcare and I’ve been doing this for 25 years.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Videos! I want to direct. Matter of fact, I’m working on a video for Mosara at the moment. We’ll be doing something for “Zion’s Eyes,” the extended version on the LP/stream. I’ve basically got all the stock footage in place. We just need to start filming our location footage. So, I’m hoping to have that done by this year’s end.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Not becoming stagnant. Maintaining a certain degree of progression. Pushing limits and breaking boundaries. It’s about staying fresh and experimenting with different ideas to make something old, new again.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

The next phase of the MCU!!! I’m a huge Marvel Cinematic Universe geek… HAHA!

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Mosara, Only the Dead Know Our Secrets (2022)

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Hudu Akil Announce Texas Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Hudu akil

For those in other parts of the world, there are really just two states in the union in which one might launch a one-state tour. Texas is one of them, California is the other. If you’re in Europe, think of it like announcing a ‘German tour.’ Hudu Akil, from Phoenix, Arizona, are slated as previously noted to play at Heavy Mash 2022 in Arlington, TX, on Oct. 8, and around that they’ll do dates in El Paso, San Antonio, Austin and San Angelo, so yeah, that’s a legit Texas tour.

They signed to Glory or Death Records earlier this year to release 2020’s Eye for an Eye on vinyl, and according to social media the test pressings for that were a go, though I don’t have an exact release date if such things even exist anymore for this kind of stuff. It’ll happen when it happens. Cool your jets and preorder. Ha.

The dates follow here along with some comment from Hudu Akil‘s Zac Crye, who notes that they’ll be playing largely new stuff in the sets. Right on:

Hudu akil tour

Hudu Akil, the stoner metal trio from Phoenix, AZ, will set out to spread their desert rock gospel around the Lone Star State in October with the following dates:

10.05 – Raves – El Paso, TX
10.06 – Hi-tone – San Antonio, TX
10.07 – Valhalla – Austin, TX
10.08 – Division Brewery – Arlington, TX (Heavy Mash 2022)
10.09 – The Deadhorse – San Angelo, TX

The band will be showcasing their new work alongside crowd favorites with nearly half of the touring set comprised of unreleased material.

Vocalist, Zac Crye says:
“Our most recent album was picked up by Glory or Death Records a year after it was released during the pandemic. When they asked about getting “Eye for an Eye,” on vinyl, they also wanted to know if we could have a new album ready to send out for vinyl around the same time. At that time we didn’t have any new material, so we got to work and crafted some of our favorite songs for this new album, which we are nearly finished writing. So, its time to take the new tunes and see how they hold up in one of the best states for the genre at the moment.”

“I think Texas is a great state to tour because there are so many large cities with great music scenes that are fairly close together. Stoner Rock/Psyche Rock and Heavy Blues are really big around Austin. Those are our vibes with a little dry heat added in.”

“Eye for an Eye” was released in 2020 and is available on all streaming platforms.
Go to huduakil.com for more information.

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Hudu Akil, Eye for an Eye (2020)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jeffrey Owens of Secret Iris

Posted in Questionnaire on August 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

secret iris

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jeffrey Owens of Secret Iris

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’m vacillating between wanting to define writing music as being a conduit for the voice of the universe, and wanting to define it as total masturbation. As far as how I ended up doing this, playing music and writing are the only two skills I’ve ever felt even passingly good at, although I guess I was okay at geometry for a while there. Oh, and people say I’m good at photography, so I guess that, too.

Describe your first musical memory.

All of my earliest memories of music are of my mother singing songs to me, mostly lullabies. The main one I recall is ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad’. She used to sit by my bed and sing that one to me. I feel like I even remember being cradled and rocked by her as a baby when she would sing it. I’ll have to ask her if that’s accurate, because if so, it’s not just my first musical memory, but my first memory.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is a really hard one. I have so many great memories relating to music! Ultimately, it has to go to March 2017, playing at Beauty Bar in Las Vegas with our friends in Aneurysm. There was this super tall stage outside, and none of us wanted to stand up there performing. Most of us were punk kids. Stages are weird. It’s always way more fun to be closer to the crowd. So, somehow, we managed to convince the sound person to let us set up and play on the ground, even though there was (perfectly reasonable) concern of the mic feeding back. The show was packed and everyone was having the time of their lives. It was one of those nights where the whole crowd was throbbing and pulsing. It didn’t feel like there were individuals there, it felt like everyone was part of the same entity. Pretty cool. If I had to repeat one show every night, it would easily be that one.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Hmm, I guess a good example is the death of my father. I have always pretty firmly believed in some weird shit. I’ve used ouija boards successfully more times than anyone in their right mind should admit to. I had the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram memorized for quite some time (probably should re-up on that). I could go a million ways on what happens when we die. I really just don’t know. Purely agnostic, in that regard. That said, I have always believed in the reality of ghosts. I don’t know what they are or how they work, but I pretty firmly believe they exist. Because of this, I find it interesting and challenging that absolutely nothing strange or supernatural has occurred related to my dad in the years since he has been gone. I don’t know, it’s weird. Maybe I made some changes to myself, but some of the magick in me seems to have passed when he did, and I think about it a lot.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To the best and worst places you’ll ever go.

How do you define success?

It’s an ever-changing thing. To me, success is defined by accomplishing a goal you set out to do. I don’t define success in terms of what other people think of me, or how much money I make off of something. In fact, in some ways, money can run contrary to success. If your goals are to make money, you really shouldn’t be any kind of artist. Hell, if your main goal is to make money, we probably won’t get along very well without a significant amount of dishonesty from both parties. Success isn’t gaining fans or earning money, it’s writing an album and recording it. It’s making something cool with friends or by yourself, and FINISHING it. I feel successful when I wrap anything up. I feel even more successful when I like it.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’d rather not answer this, but, hey, I’m supposed to be honest, right? The thing that I would most like to unsee in life was when the love that someone once had for me all but completely disappeared, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe some people can get over that shit, but I haven’t, despite my best efforts.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I feel like I’m too old to simply pivot into some kind of new career, but it would be great to be involved in a feature-length, independent (maybe guerilla) horror film in some way. I’d love to write, or be behind the camera. I’ve had an interest in both of those things my whole life, and have spent a lot of time experimenting with both. I wrote a lot more when I was younger, and I’m always kicking myself for not doing more of that. That or porn, but I don’t have the stamina for that. Seriously, how much cardio do those dudes do??

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To communicate and connect with other human beings. To help us feel, and to show us that there are others who understand how we feel. To prove that there is good in the world, and that, despite the fact that we are clearly the worst species on the planet, we can also make some absolutely beautiful things, especially from our pain. Also to get laid. That’s the main reason anyone does anything, right?

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Disappointment Blvd.

https://www.instagram.com/secret.iris/
https://Facebook.com/secretirisband
https://secretiris.bandcamp.com/releases
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/secret-iris/1574839183

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Secret Iris, What Are You Waiting For (2021)

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